2330
10-23-Arrived at scene
We're not trendy or fashionable. My neighborhood friends really aren't either, so I fit in here. Nobody in the Pine Bluff Park neighborhood is really above or below another. We're all pretty equal. I'd dare to call us close-knit.
The one on my right, my Right Hand Man if you will is only seperated by a little strip of concrete. Let's our famililies know where to stop mowing. He's close in proximity, but we've kind of drifted apart over the years. It's a little sad, but I'm not complaining just stating facts. Sure, there's two sunroofs, but the lights don't come on until late over there. His family always seem to be rushing. In the front door at night, out in the morning. Doesn't seem like anybody is ever waving from the door or holding a forgotten paper bag lunch on the walk as it's sheepishly retrieved. His people don't get back to him very often.
To my left there's a loyal, gray, two-bedroom. The 'ole girl is the most mature house on our block. She came up way before any of us were even blueprints. Good bones, as they say. She's pretty compact and very symmetrical. I'm kind of jealous of how orderly her plants are arranged. Her hedges though, they're something to see. On the rare quiet days, I sometimes find myself chuckling, at her mohawk motif. One day I called her Mr. T. I didn't really know what it meant, but she didn't even look my way for about a week. Learned the hard way not to repeat some of the things Marianna calls Jesus. When Mrs. Nesbit was still with us, she loved to plant. There'd be fresh smelling flowers almost year round. Mr. Nesbit, though, he only plants out front. A lot of our neighbors view Mr. Nesbit as a cratchety old widower, but he's not. At the edge of her sidewalk there are two pillars. They were there when I was built, so I'm not really sure why. I've been blessed by a lot of good advice from her over the years. She really helped me through when my first family left. That was pretty rough.
As for me, just your standard Craftsman. My foundation is good. No cracks or rotten beams. I'm brown. I was given a fresh coat of paint not to long ago. The porch runs most of the way across my front. My family hung a swing. It's nice. Sometimes, when the sea breeze blows in, it'll sway back and forth. Kinda lulls me into a trance. After all the dust settled, papers were signed, and necessary money paid my first family moved in. Apparently, I wasn't what they wanted because they moved out about ten years later. Now, my Right Hand Man says I need to stop with that grudge. He's right, I'm better off and so are they. It worked out well. My family really cares for me. Every other week, they scrub my porch and mow my grass. They like to hang out with me. Unlike my first family who spent a lot of time alone, these guys like being together. I almost forgot, behind the swing is this huge picture window. It's probably my favorite feature besides my family, of course. The glass let's a lot of light reach inside. Warm sunlight often wakes me up in the morning. It might fade the furniture a little, but it's really worth it. Besides letting light in, it also lets others see the light. The 'ole girl to my left thinks I'm a little sappy, but she doesn't know my family. I tear up just thinking about them. See, I love that picture window because at night when all is said and done, they'll sit around in the front room playing a game or watching a movie, sometimes just talking and people walking by on the sidewalk can tell I'm more than a standard Craftsman. Not on my own, though. Ya see without my family, I really am just an ordinary house. They make me a Home.
Now, I'm not sure what this is. I may make it into a series, each character's relationship to the house or I may end it with this. I was messing around with character development for a different project this evening and thought what about settings, aren't they a really important character in stories. I think 2330 is probably the main character in The Fosters. It is the place that fosters, nurtures, and protects their Love. 10-23 is a police code for: arrival at scene. So, I guess we'll see what this becomes or if it just is. Thanks for reading! (and reviewing if ya please)